DanceOn Rebrands Itself As It Expands Into Music Programming – Newfronts

DanceOn is so yesterday. The dance video-focused digital video service co-founded by Madonna just rebranded itself as Izo, part of a broader transformation into a music entertainment company, CEO Amanda Taylor told advertisers today at the company’s Newfront presentation.

“We are not just about dance anymore,” Taylor says — noting that DanceOn helped five acts place on Billboard’s Top 40 chart last year. On its website, the company bills itself as “the music brand for today’s connected generation.”

Although it will continue to offer dance programming, Izo plans to build music-related series around some of the shows that have worked on DanceOn including Artist Request and The Edge. It also will expand into live events.

The company says that Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Sony, 300 Entertainment, Records and TuneCore are among its music partners. It also has branded content partnerships with Coca-Cola, Reebok, Gillette Venus (Procter & Gamble) and Toyota.

Izo says it took its name from “intermezzo,” a word for music that links different acts of a play or opera. The company plans to play a similar role connecting “audiences with popular music programming.”

Another co-founder, Machnima CEO Allen DeBevoise, calls music “by far the largest and most engaging category in digital.” The metamorphosis into Izo “seems like a natural evolution” for a company that “enables and empowers fan participation.”

The strategic change follows the recent hiring of Chief Revenue Officer Karen Schuchardt, who had helped to lead digital video sales at ABC, and Marketing EVP Betty Tran, who had worked at Live Nation’s Insomniac Events.